Poll: Mark Twain censored. New copies of Huckleberry Finn to replace usage of the 'n-word'

[Ashcrexl]

slave? does that not seem, much much worse to anyone? also, only 1 out of 94 voted yes? hot damn!

 

[CrustyOatmeal]

i seriously thought this thread was a joke when i was reading it. how could a man with a doctorate think that censoring huck fin is a good thing? i remember the first time i ever read it was in high school in my literature class and the teacher made us all read the book out-loud to the entire class (trading off from student to student) and every time the "n" word came up every student would pause, some would skip over the word entirely. the teacher would force us to say the word and to read the horrible thing done to jim in the book for a reason. that was the only book we ever read in class and it was for good reason. the book really opened many students eyes to the harsh lifestyle of the era and to portray this to the audience. to hear that such a masterful work of art is going to have one of its defining features (if not its most major one) censored out is appalling. i understand making censored books for kids but certain books were never mend for the young mind and this is one of them

 

[Grafin Drachen]

Don't get me wrong, the word is offensive. But going this far is a but much. I can think of books - popular books at that - that are much worse. This book uses a word - that in context, is used correctly for the period, but we've got almost cult-like followings of books that advocate suicide, spousal abuse, suppression of human rights and so on. (I'm sure most can figure out what book/books I am referring to here..)

If we're going to censor a word, in a book where it was used in context, and appropriately at the time of writing for the book, why not be rash and hasty and revoke other books (As someone mentioned - the bible) and revise them for content that could be considered offensive, lacking moral, ECT.

Whatever happen to freedom of speech? Sure, freedom of speech is a relatively young right and is really not something we could use to base an actual argument on alone, but we've become a world so paranoid of someone being offended, we're really doing more harm than good at this point..

 

[AK47Marine]

If 50 cent can use the "n-word" every other word in his music I think we can let one of the greatest American authors in history slide.

 

[Thaius]

The word wasn't offensive back then. It's a perfect opportunity to display to kids how terminology and political correctness shifts and changes over times and societal eras. Censoring that is just not acceptable.

 

[WolfThomas]

It's public domain, why is everyone pissed?

Because this is the version they're trying to teach in schools.

Okay I missed that. Well shit, that sucks.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

Political Correctness can go and fuck itself in this case. The era was like that, and used those words daily in casual conversation. It's not "offensive", it's fucking reality. Get over it, PC crowd.

 

[Jordi]

[a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/05/huckleberry-finn-edition-censors-n-word"]Article[/a]

"A new US edition of Mark Twain's classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is to be published with a notable language alteration: all instances of the offensive racial term "******" are to be expunged.

The word occurs more than 200 times in Huckleberry Finn, first published in 1884, and its 1876 precursor, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which tell the story of the boys' adventures along the Mississippi river in the mid-19th century. In the new edition, the word will be replaced in each instance by "slave". The word "injun" will also be replaced in the text.

The new edition's Alabama-based publisher, NewSouth books, says the development is a "bold move compassionately advocated" by the book's editor, Twain scholar Dr Alan Gribben of Auburn University, Montgomery. It will have the effect, the publisher claims, of replacing "two hurtful epithets" in order to 'counter the 'pre-emptive censorship' that Dr Gribben observes has caused these important works of literature to fall off curriculum lists worldwide.'"

I understand that words are hurtful to people, but I'm surprised to hear about this, especially when it seems more like a decision to omit any sort of 'bad word' from an established classic, like some sort of algorithm rather than a discussion of humans that understand context, framing and narrative. Surprised most of all that a so-called scholar of Twain's works would advocate something like this. A scholar in favor of desecrating the written work of an American Classic author, I can think of no greater insult than to alter or censor an artist's work- long after they're dead, too.

Huck Finn wasn't my favorite book in the curriculum back when I was in high school, I just thought it was OK. I do like Mark Twain, though. As I remember it, Huck was an unreliable narrator, and that became a major thematic device for the whole novel. The word was used that way and it has remained unchanged for so long because the reader is supposed to cringe and not like people using such an ugly word so casually. But his language and choice of words is obviously the lens of that narrator, and we see how he changes over the course of the novel reflects what he has learned from his travels and society around him, including his usage of the n-word.

It's been awhile since I read it, though. Tell me what you think.
I'm more concerned that people seem to think that it's ok to deface an author's own work by changing even a single word of the finished product.

Okay, I'll play devil's advocate.

First of all, the scholar seems to think that the book is not being read as much as it could be, because of this offensive language. Perhaps he doesn't like censoring the book, but his reasoning seems to be that it is better if more people read the censored version, than it would be if the book remains unchanged but less people read it. You can obviously disagree with those priorities, but I think I can at least see where he's coming from.

Also, the meaning of words changes throughout time. Now, I'm not from the US, so my knowledge of American history and language is shaky at best, but what if the n-word was viewed differently when Twain wrote the book. What if the old meaning of "******" (or the meaning used in the book) is much closer to the current word "slave" than it is to the current word "******" (I'm not saying it is, but "what if")? Then perhaps changing it will actually help people to better understand what Twain was trying to say.

 

[Bernzz]

You can't change history. It was just how they spoke back then.

Hyper-sensitive politically-corrective, insane people annoy the ever loving hell out of me.

 

[Meatstorm]

Reminds me of the time when they changed Agatha Christies "Ten little niggers" to "And then there were none" I myself don't see any point in this as the word isn't intended to hurt anyone in this case, It's just reflections of the Writers time.

One more thing i hate about the new title is that it totally spoils the ending before you even had started to read. I would be hesitant to read through a book "Everybody dies"

 

[Soviet Steve]

I find the use of the word slave in this context extremely offensive. What's the thinking here? Only black people could be slaves? What about the masses of serfs in the rest of the world at the time? What about the political prisoners in authoritarian states? Oh piss on them, only black people are capable of suffering.

Atrocious.

 

[Urh]

The Civil War was about niggers. The North hated the concept of a ******, the South wanted to keep them.
Eventually the north won and the use of Niggers became outlawed by the 13th amendment.

I really shouldn't have been eating when I read your post, man. I nearly choked.

I like the idea of a kids friendly version of the book

In 1818, Thomas Bowdler published a version of William Shakespeare's works which had been edited to be "more appropriate for women and children." While commercially successful, it was ridiculed and scorned by scholars to the extent that Bowdler's name became synonymous with censorship (i.e. to bowdlerize).